About Me

Amanda:I've always had a love of cooking. As a teenager, when most of my friends were watching sitcoms, I was watching Food Network. I was always experimenting on my family with my "creations." Recently I have found a new passion in food. I now follow the principles of Weston A. Price Foundation, using Real Food when I cook. I've eliminated processed foods from my life. I don't use too many measurements when I cook, just a lot of love.

I have opened up this blog to my family and some friends, so there will be a lot of recipes to enjoy. As always, please leave comments, and suggestions. If you try one of our recipes, please let us know what you thought of it! To find out more about me, visit my personal blog here.

Contributing Cooks:

Julie:One of my wonderful sister-in-laws. Shes a great mom of two. She and I share a passion for food. One of her favorite weekend spots is to go hang out at the gourmet supermarket to take in the sights! You can visit her personal blog here.

Karen:My Momma. Yes, I'm almost 30 and call her Momma. She encouraged my love for food by helping me cook many dinners while I was growing up. I cooked spaghetti so many times, that to this day, we are both "tired" of it. But back then she never complained.

Jules:I met Jules in the blogsphere and fell in love with her blog, Far from the Sticks. Here is a little more about her in her own words: I grew up in the wilds of New Hampshire. After college I went in search of warmth and sun and ended up in San Diego. In Feb. '09 I moved to Ankara, Turkey with my fiance. Officially I am now an ex-pat. I am currently butchering Turkish in my attempt to learn it, but have had more success with the food. I pounce at any chance to try a new dish, and have few boundaries when it comes to what I won't eat. Through my exeriences I am learning the intricacies of a cuisine that varies from Mediterranean to Anatolian. Growing up I never imagined this particular adventure but nonetheless am excited for what is to come.

Recipes I want to try

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Friday, May 13, 2011

Enchilada Suiza

I have a confession. Enchilada Suiza used to be one of my favorite tv dinners back when I bought those things. This is SO much better than any tv dinner. I wish I had tripled the recipe and froze it though. It'd be great for taking to a new mom. This was a project though. I did not end up making my own tortillas, but that would have just made it that much better. I did cook the chicken for 24 hours to make stock from it. Chicken pulled from the bone after being simmered for that long is so moist and it shreds so easily. Plus I got about 6 quarts of rich stock to use for another recipe. The roasted tomatillo salsa that went into the recipe was really great too! I used anaheim peppers for flavor and no heat, since I wanted my toddlers to eat this and they don't like spicy foods (yet!) I made the salsa the day before. It'd be a great one to make and lacto-ferment and serve with chips, but I didn't ferment this batch since I knew it'd be baked in the oven which would kill of any beneficial bacterias that I would have gained from fermenting it. Then I stirred together a quick white sauce to pour over the enchiladas with the green sauce and they went into the oven. Here is the method broken down a bit more:

-Amanda

Chicken Enchilada Suiza

Tomatillo Salsa

6-8 tomatillos, huskes removed

3-4 cloves of garlic with skins still on

4-5 anaheim peppers or a mixture of your favorite peppers. If you go with a hotter pepper you can either add it with the anaheims, bell peppers or just increase your amount of tomatillos so you get the same amount of salsa at the end

1 small white onion, peeled and quartered

cilantro (optional)

olive oil

salt

On a baking sheet, spread out the tomatillos, garlic with skin still on, onion and peppers. Liberally drizzle olive oil on top and sprinkle with sea salt. Put in a 425 oven for about 25-30 minutes until everything starts to turn a bit brown.

In a blender, place the onions and tomatillos in the blender, add the garlic removing the skins at this time, they should just squish out. Cut the top of the peppers and squeeze out the seeds and add them to the blender. Blend on high for a minute or two until everything is well blended. The tomatillos should have enough liquid that you don't need to add water, but you can add a bit if needed. Add cilantro if using and blend one more time. Store up to a week in the fridge. Makes about 1 quart.

Cream Sauce

1 cup of sour cream

1/4 cup heavy cream

1./2 tsp cumin

salt

Mix together and set aside.

Enchiladas:

1 quart of tomatillo salsa

1 recipe of cream sauce

3 cups of shredded chicken meat

12 oz (ish) of shredded cheese, I used colby jack

10 tortillas

Spread about half of the tomatillo salsa on the bottom of a large baking dish. Roll up each tortilla with a bit of shredded chicken and shredded cheese and roll it up. Place with the seam down in the salsa. Finish all 10 tortillas squishing them together. Top with the rest of the salsa. Pour white sauce over the green salsa and top with leftover cheese. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes until cheese gets all nice and bubbly.